Re: Southernisms (was Re: Genitive relationships (WAS: Construct States))

Tom Wier wrote:
> (1) [E] / [nasal] --> [I];  [&] / [nasal] --> [E]
Hmm, I say /k&n/, and I hear that as well, here in Florida (of course,
Florida, except in rural areas of the Panhandle, isn't all that Southern
to begin with), but as for [E] --> [I], that's definitely present in my
dialect.
> (2) final consonant cluster reduction: [lEft] --> [lEf]
I don't hear or say that either.
> (3) [ai] --> [a:]
Is that actually used?  I know that it's a stereotype of Southern
speach, but I don't think I've heard it before.
> (4) [l] / _p# or _f# --> [p] or [f]:  [hElp] --> [hEp]
Again, something I've lever heard.
> (5) [l] / _k --> palatal lateral approximant
So that "elk" has a palatal lateral?  Interesting, something I've never
heard.
> (6) loss of [n], and nasalization on preceding vowel
I don't think I've heard a loss of [n], but the nasalization is a
near-universal feature of English, isn't it?
> (7) [lr] --> [rr]:  "a'right" (except in careful speech)
I definitely have that, as well as the alternate form "aight" [ajt]
> (8) [In] for -ing: nearly universal, as I suspect in many areas of the
> country (if not the world)
I have both [In] and [iN], with, of course, [In] being more common in
casual speach, and almost non-existent when using "scientific" words
(e.g., I'd probably never say analyzin')
> (9) _y'all_, of course, which can imply (for me at least)
> paucality, where some phrasal unit like _[Al@yAl]_
> serves for more than that.
For me, "all y'all" implies totality, i.e., every one of y'all, just
like "all (of) us".  However, I've never heard "y'all" being used
completely consistently.  That is, "you" is still used for plural at
times, tho y'all is never used for singular.  Perhaps the best example
is that stereotypical Southernism "y'all come back now, ya hear?", where
"ya" is used for plural in the second clause.